Hospital to Hold MRSA Briefing for Media and Community Leaders

Dr. James Rahal, Infectious Disease Specialist, also available as Expert Resource

WHAT: A special briefing on methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is scheduled for media and community leaders. James Rahal, M.D., and a team of infectious disease specialists from New York Hospital Queens will address the basis of concern about this infection. They will discuss the risks, and address the fear caused by recent cases of community-acquired MRSA infection in the New York area.

UPDATE: A community education program is scheduled for the general public on Thursday, November 8, 2007 at 6:30 p.m. in New York Hospital Queens’ Lang Center Auditorium. Please announce this through all available means. Registration is suggested via 1-800-282-6684.

FYI: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a type of Staph that is resistant to commonly used antibiotics. MRSA infections occur most frequently among persons in hospitals and healthcare facilities (such as nursing homes and dialysis centers) who have weakened immune systems.

MRSA infections that are acquired by healthy persons in the community who have not been recently (within the past year) hospitalized or had a medical procedure are known as Community Acquired-MRSA infections (CA-MRSA). These CA-MRSA infections are usually manifested as skin infections, such as pimples, boils, or abscesses; and rarely, pneumonia. For background on healthcare and community-acquired infections, as well as infection control guidance, including in school settings, go to http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod.

NYHQ conducts ongoing surveillance for infectious diseases, as well as targeted research. An original article based upon a multi-year investigation into the impact on MRSA is being published in the November issue of the journal Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology.